Esso Fawley Oil Refinery

Fawley was chosen for a refinery in 1921 due to its sparse population, plenty of land for development and proximity to Southampton Water for the supply of water and berthing of deep drafted ships.

Esso acquired the site in 1925 and modernised and extended it in 1951. It is now the largest refinery in the UK handling 326,000 barrels a day i.e. 20% of total UK capacity. Fawley also supplies feedstock to the adjacent ExxonMobil Chemical plant

Once pumped ashore from the marine terminal, the oil is separated using distillation into different fractions like propane and butane (LPG), petrol, jet fuel, diesel, marine fuels, heating oil, lubricant basestocks and fuel oil.

A network of 1,200km of pipeline is used to transport 95% of clean fuels to distribution depots including Heathrow, Gatwick and Birmingham airports. The rest is carried by ship.